Bed Reputation
by NoSecretsHere
Summary: One mistake. Lexi Rivera made one mistake in her short life that was then used to define herself. All her accomplishments disappeared, and she was left being known as a troublemaker. All her teachers looked down on her except for one: Mrs. G. Lexi finds herself a family in Room 203. A place where she was more than her mistake.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: I love the Freedom Writers Diary, and have decided to write a fanfic for it. While I know the category isn't the most popular, I hope that those of you who do read this will enjoy it. Be sure to leave a review though.  
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Freshman Year, Fall Semester

Lexi Rivera entered the grounds of her new school with a sigh. The courtyard was stock full of students, a lot more than her last school had. Ducking so a blue and white pom Pom couldn't smack her in the face, she scowled. Honestly back at her old school the cheerleaders did not walk around in their uniforms, she wouldn't have even thought of wearing hers.

Scurrying towards the place where she had been told the office would be, she rolled her eyes as she caught the snippets of a verbal fight between two girls. Once she was at the doors of the building, she turned one last time to see the school. It was then that she realized for the first time that all the students were in group by race. Odd, she thought. With that she pushed opened the doors and walked inside.

"Can I help you dear?" The secretary asked sweetly when she caught sight of Lexi peering into the office through the doorway. "Ah yeah I'm new to this district, so I was told that I would have to come here first," Lexi explained as she walked all the way into the office. "Oh I was told there would only be one new to the district student, an Alexia Rivera. No problem though I'll just-" the secretary rambled shuffling through the papers on her desk. Tugging on her black hair Lexi chewed on her lip. It was not uncommon for people to think she was white just because she had pale skin.

"It's Lexi not Alexia," Lexi corrected wringing her hands together. "Excuse me," the secretary commented confused looking up from her desk. "My name is Lexi Rivera not Alexia," Lexi repeated. "Oh my, I thought-well you can imagine-you don't- um just go right ahead into the counselors office okay," the secretary stumbled over words finally pointing to a door on the other side of the room.

Slightly confused after the whole ordeal with the secretary Lexi continued towards the Counselor's Office. Pausing right outside, she decided it would be best to be polite. Raising her hand she knocked softly a few times. "Come in," a male voice sounded through the door. With a turn of the knob she entered the room. "Close the door behind you," the male said. After the door was shut Lexi turned to face the counselor.

He was chubby grating man probably in his late 40s, his desk was a mess of papers and his file cabinets were open slightly showing off the fat files inside. He smiled at her for a moment before clasping his hands together on the desk. "How can I help you?" He asked. "I'm new to the district, so I'm supposed come here," Lexi repeated her reason from earlier.

"You're Alexia Rivera?" He asked sounding surprised. Once again Lexi found herself confused. "It's Lexi actually," she corrected again. "Oh well I'm Mr. Kearns. Take a seat," Mr. Kearns said his tone now harsh as he pointed to the two leather chairs in front of his desk. Complying to his order Lexi quickly plopped down into one of them.

Pulling out a file from under all the papers on his desk, Mr. Kearns flipped through the papers with a frown. "It says here you went to a very distinguished private school in Wisconsin," Mr. Kearns started looking at her as if she was a bug he was studying. "Yes that's right," Lexi nodded gulping harshly at the mention of her old school.

"It also says that in the last semester of your eighth grade year you were sent to St. Hearts Alternative school and was nearly arrested for drug possession," he continued his tone becoming harsher. "That is also right, but it wasn't really drug possession," Lexi began to speak again.

"Mrs. Rivera we have enough trouble makers from this school who immigrate," Mr. Kearns began. Her anger boiling Lexi crossed her arms. "Excuse me sir, but if you look at my records you will see I was an honor roll student, a cheerleader, and a part of the National Honor Society. I am no trouble maker. Why immigration would matter at all I don't know, but I can assure that I and all my family were born in the U.S. However if I wasn't it surely shouldn't matter," Lexi spat her words like venom.

"Young lady I will not be spoken to in such a way," Mr. Kearns growled. "Well Mr. Kearns I will not be spoken to in such a degrading manner either," Lexi defended not backing down at the Counselor's angry stare. Finally looking down Mr. Kearns once again flipped through her file. "You signed up for advanced classes," he said through clenched teeth. "Yes I did. I took them at my old school and did very well in them," Lexi replied a smirk on her face at the fact he had backed down first.

"I can not allow you take those classes," he announced now looking very smug himself. "Excuse me, why not?" Lexi asked sitting up straighter. "Because of your past disciplinary record, most of the teachers will not want you in their class. You will have to take regular if not remedial classes," Mr. Kearns told her a smile on his face. Not wanting to stay in the office with the horrible man any longer Lexi decided she could do without being in higher level classes.

"Fine," she conceded not holding back the glare she was giving the counselor. Still smiling Mr. Kearns pulled out a small slip of paper from the file and handed it to her. "Here's your schedule the first bell should be ringing in a few minutes," he informed her the smug tone evident in his voice. Picking up her bag Lexi opened the door with a growl. "Ms. Rivera I hope you will try to stay out of trouble from now on. She slammed the door not caring that the secretary look positively terrified of her.

Walking out of the office Lexi looked at her schedule. The first class was English 1 room 203. Right at that moment though the bell rang and a sea of students entered the hall. Trying to catch sight of the door numbers Lexi cursed her short height. Still holding onto her schedule she turned around as she walked looking around at the doors around her. Right behind her another girl was doing the same.

CRASH! The two girls tumbled to the floor in between the multiple students walking to class. "Watch where you're going," the other girl said rushing to pick up their schedules. "I'm sorry," Lexi muttered standing up. She had never heard so much hostility over something so small. Seeing Room 203 she hurried into a line that was growing outside of it.

The voices in front of her were muddled together as she stood at the very end of the line. The bell rang signaling it was time for students to be in the classroom. "This has got be the wrong class," the guy in front of her muttered. Lexi could only see his blond hair so she tapped him on the shoulder to see if he could use some help.

"Hi," she said grinning at him. "Oh hey," he said look relieved once he looked down and saw her. "I'm Lexi," she introduced herself. As the door to the classroom finally opened a chill escaped from the room. "Uh Ben," he said in introduction as they were finally allowed into the class. As she walked in Lexi dug through her backpack and pulled out her favorite sweatshirt.

She didn't pay much attention to the rest of the students as she walked to the front of the classroom and took a seat in the first row. Once she was seated she smiled back at the teacher who looked pretty excited to be a teacher. Yanking on the sweatshirt she could hear the sound of desk scraping against the floor.

Looking behind her she saw that most of the students had moved their desks into group, once again decided upon their race. Rotating her head back to the front of the classroom she saw her teachers face fall. Catching sight of the name on the chalkboard, she learned her English teachers name was Mrs. Gruwell.

"This is bad," she heard a voice from the seat beside her. She jumped a little before realizing it was just Ben. "Why is this bad?" Lexi asked him. Before he could reply another voice sounded over everyone else's conversation. "Can I have some fries with that shake," a male voice jeered as Mrs. Gruwell wrote something on the chalkboard. She couldn't help but feel pity for the teacher.

"Hello My name is Erin Gruwell and welcome to Freshman English," Mrs. Guru well smiled at them. Looking around the classroom Lexi knew full well that the teacher would not last long. The teachers at St. Hearts had been much more experienced, yet their classes looked exactly like this. (Minus the race separation)

Mrs. Gruwell went on to go through the attendance record. "Lexi Rivera," she called looking up from the paper. She could feel all the Hispanic students looking around once they heard the last name. She held up my hand, Mrs. Gruwell smiling at her before checking her name off. "You're one of them," Ben practically gasped.

"What do you mean one of them?" Lexi questioned now feeling slightly offended for both herself and every Hispanic student in the classroom. "Man what am I doing here? Man this whole ghetto ass class got people lookin like a bad rerun of cops," the same boy from earlier who she had briefly heard was named Jamal joked.

Lexi couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from her. He had obviously never seen Cops if that was the case. "Are you Jamal?" Mrs. Gruwell asked seemingly not bothered by his outburst. "Yeah," Jamal answered. "Well for some reason they have you registered for this class," she told him. Lexi thankfully stopped her snort by covering her nose with her hand.

"Man that's some bull," Jamal continued. "It's the dumb class cuz," another boy from the back, Andre, commented starring back at Jamal. Turning all the way around in her seat to face the back, Lexi scowled. "It means your dumb," Andre continued. "Well your in this class too, so I wonder what that says about you," Lexi countered unwilling to let this one guy insult the rest of the class.

The rest of the students looked at her shocked. Andre looked at her coldly before starring back at Jamal who seemed content to completely ignore the girl who had tried to defend him. "Man say it to my face cuz," Jamal laughed. "I just did see what I mean? Dumb," Andre retorted. Though she had technically argued with him, if you could call it that, she found his comment hilarious. A giggle escaped her lips just for a moment. Thankfully everyone was too busy paying attention to the boys to notice her amusement,

Jamal jumped up. "Man I know you ain't talking to me," he said. Andre looked if anything bored rolling his eyes which made Lexi once again giggle. Just like Michael, a small voice in the back of her head echoed ending her laughter. "Look homie I'll beat that ass, homeboy," Jamal said his anger obvious. Having broken up way too many fights at St. Hearts Lexi tried to stand up, but a hand on her shoulder pushed her back down. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ben informed her as Mrs. Gruwell tried to get the boys to sit down.

She wasn't going to get them to stop that way. Surely enough within the next second the two boys were on each other. Lexi crossed her legs and tapped her fingers on her desk. Her boredom would have been obvious if anyone had been paying attention to her. The boys at St. Hearts had been so much worse, and in all honesty had much bigger fights. Then again those had been boys much older than these with much more experience fighting.

Security burst into the room and pulled the two boys apart. Everyone went back into their seats slowly. Lexi turned back to the front in her seat with a roll of her eyes. It was like her first week in St. Hearts over again.


	2. Proud to Be a Hoodlum

Authors Note: I am happy to see that I have gotten some form of feedback. Continuing on with this story I would like to ask those who are reading (especially those who haven't reviewed) what you think of Lexi? Anyway on to the story.

Lexi walked out of her English with a shake of her head. Perhaps she would call some of her St. Hearts boys later since the class had left her missing them. Looking at her schedule she was supposed to be at Algebra next. Joy she thought now she would spend a horrible hour missing her boys and stuck in her worse and most hated class. Shoving the schedule back into her sweatshirt she continued on her way. "Hey you went to St. Hearts," a voice called from behind her.

Freezing mid-step Lexi turned around a look of complete and utter shock. She had completely forgotten that she had put on her St. Hearts' sweatshirt. Her English teacher there had realized she had the habit if forgetting her jacket; the teacher had gotten tired in seeing Lexi in the oversized jackets of one of the boys and had given her the sweatshirt. It was all black except for the red curly script in the back that said: St. Hearts Alternative School. Jamal stared back at her a cheeky grin on his face.

"Perhaps. Why do you want to know," Lexi said eyeing the rowdy boy with curiosity. "My cousin goes there. Ends up there every year," Jamal said as he walked closer to her. Lexi's mouth dropped open in surprise. Her mind went through a mental list of ll her boys first, and she came to a pause pretty quickly. "Jared," she thought out loud as the late bell rang. "Yeah man Jared's my coz," Jamal grinned not even caring the late bell had rang. "I got to get to Algebra," Lexi interrupted noticing the halls were quickly clearing except for a few late stragglers.

"Hey so do I," Jamal said walking in step beside her. "Oh, well then," Lexi said as they walked adjusting her backpack on her shoulder, "So how is my man Jared?" Jamal asked as the turned into another hallway. "Causing trouble like always, last I saw him he was calling our math teacher and I quote 'A white ass pervert who needs to stop checking girls out'," Lexi smiled fondly at the memory of her friend. Jamal just laughed. "Didn't help that he was absolutely right," Lexi blurted laughing even harder as they finally reached the Algebra classroom a decent five minutes late. Jamal leaned against the wall as Lexi knocked on the locked door.

"Nice to know he ain't changed his ways," Jamal said. Lexi smiled at him as the door opened. "Thank you for finally joining us," Mrs. McHale, the Algebra teacher, announced as she let the two late students inside. A classroom full of sleeping and extremely bored students stared back at the two of the,. Obviously Mrs. McHale had a little more control over the class. Not saying much since she could see a guy carving into a desk in the back row. Jamal and Lexi made their way to the last available seats in the middle of the room. Lexi took the seat on the third row while Jamal sat on the one behind her.

Looking around Lexi realized in surprise that both people sitting on either side of her were from her English class. To her right sat Andre and to her left Gloria. She gave the girl a small smile and nodded at Andre. Gloria seemed a bit surprised, but gave her a small smile in return before returning to the magazine on her desk. Andre merely looked away completely ignoring her.

"Now I'm guessing you two are Ms. Rivera and Mr. Hill, am I correct?" Mrs. McHale asked raising a perfectly plucked brow at her two tardy students. "Yes," Lexi replied as Jamal let out an extremely bored "Yeah". "Well Mr. Hill I hope you don't plan on making this a habit," Mrs. McHale said snidely. Before Jamal could make a comment in return she had locked eyes with Lexi. "As for you Mrs. Rivera, unless you would like to return to Alternative school, I would try not to continue on this path. I do not take well to hoodlums in my class," Mrs. McHale continued eyeing a few of her other 'Hoodlum' students.

Lexi felt her anger rising. Some of her classmates looked at her sigh a mixture of surprise and disgust from some. Andre looked at her calmly a look of curiosity on his face. He was obviously wondering what a girl like her was doing in an Alternative school, something considering a stepping stone to Juvenile Hall. Gloria just shrugged and flipped to the next page of her magazine. She could feel Jamal's hands on her shoulders doing a weird pat and pull thing that made her think that him and his cousin seemed to have that in common.

"Well Mrs. McHale I can assure that the path I am on is no concern of yours. As for being a hoodlum I would like to point out that it doesn't matter if I'm one or not. You are a teacher, whose job is to teach not judge," Lexi found herself saying in the same snide tone the teacher had used on her. She was not going to take it from some over weight counselor let alone a bug like looking woman. Mrs. McHale looked absolutely disgusted from her outburst. "Ms. Rivera I would suggest you not sound so proud of your misgivings," Mrs. McHale hissed.

Lexi glared back at her teacher for a moment before standing up. Jamal's hands fell from her shoulder as she climbed onto the chair of her desk.

"Fellow hoodlums and others I am Lexi Nicole Rivera. I am going to be 15 in three weeks. I am a graduate of St. Hearts Alternative school in Wisconsin. In Feburary I was almost arrested and nearly sent to Juvenile Hall for possession of a dangerous drug. I spent the rest of my school year at St. Hearts becoming best friends with drug addicts and guys who liked to get into fights. I am happy to join you in this class," Lexi announced to her entire class turning around from where she stood on her chair.

Turning to face the front of the classroom she did a well balanced curtesy to her appalled teacher before plopping back into her seat. Behind her she could hear Jamal begin to clap behind her and could feel a smirk growing on her lips. The sound of clapping beside her surprised her so much she turned in her seat. Sitting beside her, still slouched in his chair, and adding a few claps to the rest of the class' applause was Andre. He was still starring to the front of the classroom, but she could see a small smirk on his face. For some unknown reason Lexi felt especially pleased that he had seemed to enjoy her little spectacle.

"Enough! Please open your workbooks to page 5," Mrs. McHale yelled angrily watching Lexi. With one last glare the teacher turned around to write on the board. "White girl got some balls," Jamal said quietly from behind her. Lexi covered her laugh with her sleeve expertly knowing she would send her teacher over the edge if she laughed out loud. She was enjoying this far to much.

"Settle down," Mrs. Gruwell announced the next day trying to get the class to calm down. Lexi stopped trying to assure Ben that she was sure none one would be killing him anytime soon and returned to facing the board. She opened her yellow spiral to the first page and tapped her pen against the corner of her lip as she waited for the class to calm down.

"Let's go over the first name on the list. Homer's, the Odyssesy," Mrs. Gruwell continued writing on the board. Lexi quickly scribbled the title and author in her notes despite the fact she had read it many times before. (Call her bookworm, she honestly didn't care)

"I know Homer the Simpson," Marcus, one of the boys who sat in the back, joked. Lexi laughed to herself along with some of the other other students. "No, this Homer was Ancient Greek, but maybe he was bald just like Homer Simpson," Mrs. Gruwell joked with a laughed. Lexi's palm hit her forehead quickly as a few fake laughs and groans surrounded her. It had been a horrible attempt, but Lexi appreciated that she had tried. That was a lot more than any of her other teachers.

Mrs. Gruwell continued with a short lesson that Lexi took a few notes on. Having read the book before though she soon got bored and found herself doodling in the margins. Carefully made swirls and stars began to climb down her note paper. Once she heard her assignment though she stopped and got to work. She was done within minutes, something that she found both amusing and sad. Her grades would not suffer in his class, but it certainly wouldn't be challenging. Then again she had spent the better part of her last year of school doing nothing but watch TV on her teacher's flat screen.

Lexi continued her doodling now beginning to construct a drawing of a well constructed house on the bottom of her page as sound began to grow around her. From where she stood helping Ben beside her Mrs. Gruwell called for the students to do their work quietly. As she was working on proportioning a roof to the house more noise broke out.

Gloria's voice shouted over the rest of the classroom, "Mrs. Gruwell he took my damn bag!" Lexi turned her torso around to see Gloria pointing a finger at Jamal. The boy in question was soon standing up. "I didn't do nothing to your damn bag," he denied heavily. Lexi snorted catching the attention of a few of her classmates, Andre included. Sharing a look with him, Lexi realized he was equally as amused by the petty argument. Gloria however wasn't having any of Jamal's denial though. "Yeah, I saw you," she argued giving Jamal a small shove.

"Jamal get her backpack," Mrs. Gruwell snapped. Jamal now becoming bored with the fight went to pick up the bag. Mrs. Gruwell was beginning another sentence when the screaming and gunshots started. Lexi jumped in her seat at the sound as the whole class went silent. Her heart felt like it was being clenched as she remembered those dreaded gunshots. Her breathing nearly paused in her chest as she tried to remind herself she was not in Wisconsin.

The next thing she knew the alarm sounded, and nearly all the students bolted from the room. Lexi quickly threw her backpack over her shoulder and rushed out of the room following he rest of the other students outside.

The courtyard was in complete and utter chaos. All around her fights were breaking out as other students either watched on cheering or were racing away in fear. Lexi stood frozen in the middle of the chaos, taking in her surroundings. The memories of that night rushing towards her in a wave of horror. Following the circles of fights Lexi came upon one that made her stomach lurch. Jamal and Andre.

Her heart sped up about fifty paces. Oh my effing god those two are idiots, she thought to herself as she heard the sirens coming closer. With a new found confidence she decided she would not let what happened that horrifying night happen again. Knowing she would probably be pulled into a fight with some over confident girl, Lexi prepared herself as she stalked over. The boys had taught her how to fight; she was sure she could at least hold her own. Once she reached the circle surrounding the two boys Lexi sucked in a breath.

"Break it up you two idiots!" She shouted stepping into the middle of the circle they fought in. The two boys didn't even spare her a glance. "Stop it! Before I fucking pull you off each other," Lexi shouted again a cuss word slipping out of her mouth. She decided to not pay attention at the hisses the crowd was sending her way and only concentrated on Jamal and Andre. Lexi sighed and walked even closer to them. With a burst of energy she pushed the two boys apart at least a food and stepped in between them.

Sadly the boys had not realized before it was too late and swung their fist again. Jamal's fist collided with the crown of Lexi's head and Andre's hit her squarely right above her eyebrow. She had not been expecting the two hits, and promptly found herself falling to the ground as the sirens reached their peak. Her head was throbbing and she caught sight of both Jamal's and Andre horrified expressions.

As most of the crowd was not disappearing, Lexi quickly pushed herself up ignoring Jamal's extended hand. With an exasperated huff she hurried away a scowl on her face. Not again, she thought as she walked away feeling a lump growing on the back of her head.

Author's Note: Like I've said, I love feedback so please review. Tell me what you like and don't like please ^_^


	3. Jamal Enough

Author's Note: I'm super happy with this chapter for some reason. I hope you like it just as much.

Lexi walked into class the next day with a extremely noticeable bruise on her forehead. Despite the possibility of having a concussion, she had slept through the whole night not caring if she did in fact go into a coma. She had decided that to make up for the horrible appearance of her face she would dress up a little more.

She had picked out a show stopping red blouse that had adorable cap sleeves. She had never worn it before thinking it made her look more whiter than she already was and made her black hair stand out a little more. Her in hair had also been changed from it's constantly down appearance to a half ponytail. When she looked in the mirror in the morning she hoped she didn't look to horrible.

Not even sparing a glance at Andre or Jamal she climbed into her desk; her fingers taping impatiently against the top of it. Ben stared at her unashamedly both because of her small changes to her usual dress and the bruise that stood out. Lexi sparred him a small smile that had her friend blushing to his ears and snapping his head back to the front of the room.

"You look different," a male voice commented. Lexi stopped giggling over Ben's reaction to look up at Andre who was leaning on her desk. "Well you know new bruise, new look," Lexi shrugged. "Look I'm sorry you got hit, but you were stupid enough to get in between us," Andre said glaring a hole into her bruise. Lexi found herself scowling. "You think I'm mad because you hit me?" She growled eyeing Andre angrily. Andre just looked at her waiting for her to get it out of your system. "This wasn't the first time I got banged up because two guys were being idiots and definitely won't be the last with my track record. I'm mad that you were such a dumbass to fight in the first place," Lexi ranted at him her eyes flashing dangerously.

Andre took an unintentional step back to stare her and take in her comments. "Well it's none of your damn business," he snapped at her just as the late bell rang. With that he walked back to his desk and didn't look twice at her. Lexi continued to scowl at her desk it didn't matter if it wasn't her business, she was going to make it her business. Finally Mrs. Gruwell stepped to the front of the classroom to begin the lesson.

She clicked a button on the stereo and soon rap began to play from it. Lexi scrunched her face up wondering what the hell the teacher had in mind. Her curious expression turned into a grimace as the scrunching of her face caused her bruise to let out a shot of pain.

"I have this idea. We're going to be covering poetry. Who here likes," Mrs. Gruwell announced. Lexi couldn't even bring herself to try and understand the last word she said. "It's Tupac," Jamal corrected from the back. Lexi rolled her eyes knowing exactly where this was going; she was certain it wasn't going to end well.

"Tupac, excuse me. Raise your hand," Mrs. Gruwell amended her mistake. Lexi hesitantly rose her hand with a few of the other students. She hated rap for the most part, but even she had to admit Tupac's was on a completely different level. "Really?" Mrs. Gruwell commented as she turned off the music. "I thought there would be more fans. I have the lyrics of the song printed out," she continued beginning to hand out stacks of paper to each row.

Lexi accepted hers and quickly handed the rest to the person behind her. "I want you to listen to this one phrase I have up on the board, it's an example of an internal rhyme," Mrs. Gruwell explained. Lexi smiled slightly the lesson seemed like a good idea, and at least Mrs. Gruwell was trying to get the students interested. "What he does is a very sophisticated and cool actually," she continued.

Lexi stiffened in her seat as she heard Andre quote the song. Her breath for some reason froze and she listened carefully to him. Her shoulders slumped slightly as Marcus took over. She followed the lyrics as Jamal took it over and a small smile fluttered across her face. It was the most serious she had ever heard him speak.

"Like we don't know Tupac," Andre spoke up. Lexi found her anger towards him growing because he couldn't give Mrs. Gruwell a break. "White girl gonna teach us about rap?" Marcus questioned. Mrs. Gruwell looked nervous now and tried to back track, "See what I was trying to do was," she tried to explain but was interrupted.

"You have no idea what your doing up there, do you?" Eva asked harshly. Lexi swung her head around completely shocked. The students oohed. "You ever been a teacher before?" Eva continued her words cutting like a knife.

"Oh she just got nail!" Jamal jeered. Lexi watched in disgust as he high fixed all of his friends. Now not only was she pissed at Andre but Jamal to. "Alright Jamal," Mrs. Gruwell called though Jamal ignored her. Lexi had enough, she was officially pissed. "Jamal enough!" Lexi nearly shouted standing up. Everyone went quiet staring at her including Jamal. His eyes went from her eyes to the huge bruise on her forehead and his face fell.

"You know I want you to move to this front seat beside Lexi, right now," Mrs. Gruwell said breaking the silence pointing to where Ben sat. "What?"

"Come on," she said urging him to come sit down. Jamal slowly sat in his seat though his eyes never left the bruise on Lexi's forehead. Lexi still stood beside her desk, arms crossed, and eyes locked onto Jamal's the brown color flashing angrily. "I am sick of these antics in my classroom," Mrs. Gruwell continued putting a hand on Lexi's shoulder that made the girl break eye contact.

Jamal's smirk returned as Lexi's bruise was no longer in his line of sight. "Well there you are. I was wondering when you would lose that damn smile," he said smugly. Lexi sat down starring at Mrs. Gruwell's determined face. "Switch with Ben. Come on," she insisted her tone stronger than it ever had been.

"I can't go back there alone,," Ben muttered quietly. Lexi felt a surge of protectiveness and leaned over to assure him he would be fine. "No I won't!" Ben told her, his voice was getting louder. "I'm not sitting near him," Sindy stood up interrupting Ben's panic. "Then why don't you sit back here?" Jamal added to the conversation.

"I'm not sitting back there alone," Sindy insisted. "Shut up," Jamal snapped at her. Lexi watched in horror as Sindy's group and Jamal stood up preparing for a fight. "You know what? I want you all to move to this side of the room. You in the back, up here. Sindy and all of you, move to the back," Mrs. Gruwell said motioning for everyone to move.

Lexi stood up thinking she would have to move to the back when Mrs. Gruwell put her hand on her desk. "Lexi stay here please," she told her. Lexi sat back down hearing the sounds of the rest of the classroom move around. Once it went silent she looked up again and nearly groaned. To her left, in Ben's old seat, was Jamal. To her right, sat Andre. "Fuck," Lexi breathed out. Jamal actually had the guts to chuckle after hearing her and Andre now had a smirk. Lexi glared at the front of the room, those boys were trying to kill her.

Lexi had managed to ignore the two boys through the rest of the day, which was hard considering Jamal was always racing after her. When the bell rung signaling the end of the day, Lexi headed out of the building and to the courtyard. Cutting across it she kept her head down trying not to draw attention to herself. Her march through the hard though was stopped when her head bonked against someone's chest.

A pinch of pain went through her bruise and Lexi let out a small moan. Her hand went to clutch the area where the bruise was when a hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her. Eyes now wide with panic Lexi looked up at the person she had run into. "That's one nasty bruise," Jamal said his eyes studying the getting uglier by the minute bruise. Lexi softly pulled her wrist from his hold and crossed her arms.

"Yes well thank you so much for pointing it out, it's exactly what every girl wants to hear.," Lexi said sarcastically. "Hey I never said you looked bad," Jamal started holding his hands up in surrender. "Cuz why you talkin to a white girl," another voice said. Lexi whirled around to see a group of Jamal's friends behind her. "She just ain't any white girl cuz, she went to Jared's school," Jamal informed them.

The one that had spoken stepped closer to Lexi and looked her up and down. "You the girl from that night aren't you?" He said it more as a statement than a question. Lexi felt a lump grow in her throat. Jamal had never put two and two together, so she had hoped no one ever would. Turning her head to look over her shoulder, she saw Jamal's face fall for the second time that day. Now he was looking at her like she was a broken toy.

Turning her head back to the guy in front of her Lexi took in a deep breath. "Yeah I'm the girl," Lexi nodded locking eyes with the much taller guy. "You helped save our man's life," the guy commented. Lexi instinctively wrapped her arms tighter around her. Despite her better efforts fear over took her expression as she was taken back to that night. Jamal must have thought the guys were scaring her because he walked up beside her and out his hand on her shoulder.

"Matt," he said in a more like warning tone. Matt took a moment to really look at the girl in front of him. Just like Jared had described her short, cute, and determined looking. "No need to be scared of us girl, you protect our man we protect you. From now on your under our protection," Matt said. Lexi broke out of her memories and looked up at him. "Thank you," she told him her eyes returning to their usual bright appearance.

She gave the group of boys a winning smile before turning to leave, causing Jamal's hand to fall from her shoulder. As she was walking on to the street she heard someone call her name. Pausing mid step she sighed. "Yeah Jamal?" She asked not turning around. "I'm sorry about you know punching you," she heard him say. Lexi found herself rolling her eyes with a smile on her face as she turned. Jamal looked to his credit, embarrassed. His face was bright red and was looking down at the cracked sidewalk.

Taking small steps Lexi walked up until she was right in front of him. Unlike Andre he didn't seem to be angry at her for butting in. "Apology accepted," she announced standing up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Jamal's head shot up now even brighter red. Lexi giggled before walking away. "See you tomorrow," she called over her shoulder.


	4. Bonding Over Bruises

Author's Note: This has to be one of my favorite moments in the whole movie, and I really wanted to do it justice.  
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Lexi slid into her seat in Algebra earlier than usual. "Hey," she greeted Gloria giving the girl a smile. "Hey," Gloria replied smiling back. "Why don't you wear makeup?" Gloria asked suddenly surprising the other girl with the randomness of her question. "Oh it's kinda embarrassing, I don't know how to put on makeup," Lexi blushed as she explained. "Seriously?" Gloria questioned looking shocked that a girl didn't know how to put on make up.

"My mom never bothered to teach me," Lexi shrugged with a laugh. "You should let me put some on you, I could teach you," Gloria offered. "Oh we'll yeah sure, I don't know if it would look good though," Lexi joked self-deprecatingly. "You kidding me right? You already got Jamal and Andre not taking their eyes off you without it," Gloria said giving Lexi a knowing look. Lexi all but choked on air. "Yeah, no," Lexi shook her head.

Gloria started to laugh just as the two boys that had been mentioned rushed into the classroom with other late comers. Jamal plopped into his desk with the exuberance of a kid while Andre slid into his calmly. The two girls spared a look before bursting out laughing. "What you ladies all giggly about?" Jamal questioned leaning closer to where the girls were huddled. That just made them laugh harder as the teacher began the lesson.

As she wrote down the problems from the board, Lexi had to bite her cheek to stop herself from laughing again. Honestly the idea that Andre and Jamal even thought twice about her was hilarious.

Lexi stared at the board the next morning in English class as Mrs. Gruwell wrote some extremely messed up sentences. Her pen tapped impatiently against the corner of her lip as she waited for her to finish. She could hear a couple of laughs coming from the back of the room, but it wasn't like that was anything new.

"Alright. Um, Gloria, please read the first sentence on the board," Mrs. Gruwell said looking at Gloria who had been flipping through a magazine. Lexi smiled at the fact her friend had just been busted. "Why me?" Gloria asked annoyed she had been chosen.

"Because I know how much you love to read. Close the magazine," Mrs. Gruwell told her. With an even more annoyed expression Gloria flipped the magazine closed. "Odysseus didn't have no sense of direction," Gloria read. As Mrs. Gruwell explained the assignment, Lexi turned her head to crack her neck. As she did so she noticed Jamal accept a note and open it eagerly.

Lexi stared at him as the blood drained from his face and his smile disappeared. He dropped low in his seat and placed his hat shakily on his head. Laughter could be heard through out the classroom and a sick feeling grew in Lexi's stomach. "What's going on?" Mrs. Gruwell questioned as she noticed the chaos in her classroom. "What is that? Give it to me!" She continued as she took the paper from Jamal. All the students were laughing even if Mrs. Gruwell looked absolutely furious.

Lexi's hand went to her mouth as Mrs. Gruwell turned the note around asking angrily what it was. "Just leave it alone!" Jamal told her his voice stronger than he looked. Lexi felt her heart break at the sight of him. Not caring what people would think, she leaned over and grabbed his hand tight in hers.

Jamal looked up at her and tried to pull his hand away thinking of all the jokes he would receive, but not only was Lexi stubborn but he saw Andre give him a look that stopped him mid motion. "You think this is funny?" Mrs. Gruwell demanded as she walked to where the most laughter was coming from. "Tito would this be funny if it were a picture of you?" She asked him.

"It ain't," he told her. Lexi pulled her hand away from Jamal's as Mrs. Gruwell ordered them to close their workbooks. The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach did not leave as Mrs. Gruwell spoke about Tito's talent and the class cheered appreciatively. "You know something? I saw a picture just like this once, in a museum. Only it wasn't a black man. It was a Jewish man. And instead of the big lips he had a really big nose, like a rat's nose," Mrs. Gruwell completely changed directions.

Lexi's sick feeling grew stronger as Mrs. Gruwell spoke of the most famous gang in history, the Nazis. The cheering around her made her feel like she was about to puke her guts out. Looking to the side she saw Andre staring at her, his eyes completely blank. As Mrs. Gruwell continued her voice growing more and more passionate with each word, Lexi finally understood what kind of classroom she sat in.

"That's how a holocaust happens. And that's what you all think of each other," Mrs. Gruwell concluded. The word holocaust slapping Lexi across the face. "You don't know nothing, home girl!" Marcus yelled across the classroom. The noise level in the classroom grew louder and louder. "No, I don't Marcus why don't you explain it to me?" Mrs. Gruwell countered.

"I ain't explain it to you," Marcus practically dismissed her. Lexi made a choked sound when she noticed the tears in Jamal's eyes. Her heart was practically breaking at the sight. Mrs. Gruwell continued to try understand, but to Lexi all she saw was Jamal's tears. The mention of a drive-by brought Lexi back to reality, and for the first time felt shame about her teacher. How could she say stuff like that so freely. It was like slapping all the students in the face,naturally it was a lot worse.

"You don't know nothing!" Eva snapped. "You don't know the pain we feel. You don't know what we gotta do. You got no respect for how we live. You got us in here, teaching us this grammar stuff. And then we gotta go out there again, and what are you telling me about that huh? What are you doing in here that makes one bit of difference in my life?" Eva ranted all her feelings vomiting out if her mouth.

"You don't feel respected. Is that what you're saying Eva?" Mrs. Gruwell asked, her voice void of emotion. "Well, maybe your not. But to get respect, you have to give it" Mrs. Gruwell told her.

"That's bull," Andre finally spoke. Lexi jumped at the sound having gotten caught up in Eva's speech. Her head whirled around to find Andre's face. "What?" Mrs. Gruwell said sounding extremely offended. "Why should I give my respect to you? Because you're a teacher? I don't know you. How do I know you're not a liar standing up there? How do I know you're not a bad person standing up there? I'm not just gonna give you my respect because you're called a teacher," Andre told her proving to everyone he wasn't stupid at all.

Lexi starred at him at awe. He had just made a string argument with out resorting to the yelling and cussing that everyone else did. Andre had her respect now, he earned it right then and there.

"White people are always wanting their respect, like they deserve it for free," Eva started up again though her tone was now resentful. "I'm a teacher. It doesn't matter what color I am," Mrs. Gruwell said not backing down from Eva's hate filled words.

Lexi saw red as Eva went into a rant about how it was white people who ruined the world and did bad. With each word that came out of the latina's mouth Lexi's hands clenched tighter. The word hate cut through the air like a knife. That was it.

Much like she had done in Algebra, Lexi jumped up to stand on her desk. "Shut up! Do you honestly think it's only white people who do bad?" Her voice came out hoarse and strong. Pushed turned her back to Mrs. Gruwell who looked to much in shock to tell her student to sit down. "What would you know? You white looking privileged princess, you don't know what it's like out there," Eva challenged dismissing her as if she was a child.

Anger over took Lexi's brain. While she was better off then most of her classmates, she was far from the pampered princess far from the action as Eva said. "Is that what you think? Ha. Then what do you call these!" Lexi's laugh came out jagged and slightly hysterical. Locking eyes with Eva, she reached down and grabbed the hem of her T-Shirt. Pulling all the bravery she could muster together, she yanked her shirt up to right under her bust.

A collective gasp ran through the students. There stood the smart, white looking, preppy Lexi Rivera showing off the ugliest scars even they had seen. Jagged knife scars crisscrossed around her stomach and from what they could tell back. They were old, but they hadn't healed properly leaving the slashes puckered. What really made the teenagers speechless though was the harsh red letters scratched against her rib cage.

A.J's Puta. The words read in an ugly jagged scrawl that called for attention. Lexi stared straight at Eva not even sparring a glance at the ugliness she spawns showing. Mrs. Gruwell seemed shocked into silence, her eyes horrified at the scars that showed how badly her student had been tortured. "It wasn't a white guy who did this, it was a fellow Hispanic. And the cop that let him get away was black not white. And one of his friends that stood there and watched was Asian. If I can sit here with all of you without one single thought of hate towards y'all because of your race, you can do the same," Lexi lectured.

Now she took her eyes off of Eva's teary ones. Looking down she found Jamal's face broken beyond words. His eyes were transfixed on the words etched onto her rib cage. She was sure his cousin and told him about what happened that night, but to see it was entirely different.

Looking to the other side she found Andre looking right at her. Their eyes locked and he nodded. The message was clear. His respect had been earned. Dropping her t-shirt back down, Lexi slowly sat in her seat now fully realizing what she had done. In one swift motion she grabbed her back pack and sprinted out of the room.  
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When the bell rang not that much later, Lexi was curled up beside the lockers. Her knees were pulled up to her chest; her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Tears were flowing down her cheeks dripping onto the white material of her shirt. Why did she do that? She had let her emotions run skid, and now her whole class had seen just how ugly and used she was.

She hadn't let anyone see the scars, not even her mother. They were a reminder of a night she wished she could forget. But she couldn't forget it without forgetting the amazing people who she had been with before the horrible events started. A few students passed through the hallway she was in, but thankfully they chose to ignore the crying girl.

Keeping her eyes on the floor Lexi didn't want to look up when she felt someone sit beside her. "I know why you don't wear makeup," Gloria's voice came out casual as if she hadn't seen the same hideous scars everyone else had. Lexi made no comment in reply only burying her face between the top of her knees. "You don't wear it for the exact same reason I wear it," Gloria continued when she saw Lexi wasn't going to talk.

The words caught Lexi's attention, so she looked up to see Gloria lifting up her own shirt. Though not nearly as ugly as hers, Gloria's stomach was stained purple and blue from a sea of bruises. Lexi's eyes widened in realization. A second later the shirt dropped back down covering the abused stomach. "You don't wear makeup because you don't think it will make a difference. You do wear makeup because you think you're not pretty enough to wear it," Gloria told Lexi reaching forward to grab the much paler hand.

"I wear it cause I don't feel pretty unless I wear it, and because I think it's the only thing that will make a difference," Gloria confessed her eyes growing watery. "You're pretty," Lexi choked out not understanding how such a pretty girl could think that about herself.

"So are you. Wipe your eyes, I'm gonna show you just how pretty you are," Gloria said her voice lighter and more teasing than before as she pulled out her makeup bag. Lexi looked mildly terrified at the idea though she still did as told. The two girls shared a small smile and scooted closer together so Gloria could get to work.

Author's Note: I love the support I'm getting. Keep the reviews coming, I love them and makes me want to write more.


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